Mine firm says records clear on stakeholders

Sagittarius Mines Inc. yesterday denied “continuing malicious reports” about Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III having any financial interest in the company.

Roy D. Antonio, corporate linkages manager at SMI, said the company was duty bound to do so “in light of several continuing and malicious reports from certain quarters.”

“(SMI) formally and unequivocally states that (Dominguez) does not have nor has he ever had any financial or other interest in the corporation,” Antonio said. “This is an incontrovertible fact, which is supported by the required filings submitted by the corporation to pertinent government agencies as required by law.”

Supporters of ousted Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, including the environmentalist alliance Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), has been accusing several prominent people of having mining interests and as being behind efforts that blocked her confirmation at the Commission on Appointments last month.

Mining companies have, for their part, lamented what they called the impartiality of the mine audit ordered by Lopez, noting that antimining activists like ATM took part in the audit teams.

Last February, Lopez announced the cancellation of the environmental clearance certificate for SMI’s planned $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato.

The Tampakan project has been touted by its proponents as the biggest in the Philippines and among the largest copper mines in the world. The proposed mine site covers about 10,000 hectares and is located between the towns of Tampakan, South Cotabato, and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, in southern Mindanao.

The mineral resource estimate defined by the exploration work undertaken on the site showed a total of 2.94 billion tons at a grade of 0.51-percent copper and 0.19 grams-per-ton gold. This represents 15 million tons of copper and 17.6 million ounces of gold.

If approved, the mine is estimated to yield an average of 375,000 tons a year of copper and 360,000 ounces a year of gold in concentrate over the 17-year period of mining and ore production. SMI said it takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. “We understand that mine waste and water management are important issues for our stakeholders and they form an important part of our design, operation and rehabilitation plans for the project,” it noted.